Chapter 33
The Black Swamp.
One of the key elements that could never be omitted from the main scenario going forward.
Scholars had long debated the object that drove monsters into a frenzy, but in truth, its nature was a toxic substance that leaked out when the Night God became corrupted.
An impure residue that fell into the world and formed pools.
That was the Black Swamp.
Even if divinity fell to corruption, it was still a fragment shed from a god’s body.
After being doused in something like that, it was only natural that most living beings could not endure the stench that gnawed at the soul.
However, that was not why Aquila was flustered.
‘Why is that appearing now?’
Aquila unconsciously wore a bewildered expression.
The Black Swamp only began appearing across the continent around the mid-to-late stages of the main scenario, when its danger became fully apparent.
In the early stages, it was barely mentioned at all.
That was because it only formed in limited regions rarely visited by people.
In the east, the Washard Forest, known as the Nest of the Dead Dragon.
In the west, an inaccessible knightly ruin.
In the south, a nameless uninhabited island.
And finally, in the north, the Frost Forest.
As if the Night God were unfailingly fair, one in each of the four cardinal directions.
‘If it is hidden early on for the sake of game balance, then it should stay that way. Is this iteration running on some kind of self-imposed hard mode?’
Unlike Aquila, who had frozen in confusion, Shen recovered first despite his shock and raised his voice.
“Lord Reshan! Lady May!”
“…Shen?!”
The children, who had been facing off against Celsia and had not noticed them right away, flinched and turned their heads.
“Uh, and… b-brother?”
The faces that had brightened upon spotting Shen widened again in surprise the moment they saw Aquila behind him.
‘Brother?’
Aquila turned his gaze at the unfamiliar form of address, one he had never heard since possessing this body.
A boy and a girl.
Their red hair was not especially vivid, but it was enough to tell that they were of Reschenhardt blood.
They looked to be around ten or eleven years old, and their nearly identical faces suggested they were twins, right down to their startled expressions.
They had called Celsia “Mother,” so they were undoubtedly her twin children, but—
‘Reshan and May. I do not remember them.’
He had assumed Celsia would have children, yet even seeing the twins’ faces stirred no memory.
Which meant that these children had no connection whatsoever to the main scenario.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere? We heard you escaped and came after you, but what in the world is going on here…?”
“Aquila! You are later than I expected. I thought you would come quickly. Did you foolishly lose your way?”
Before Shen could finish speaking, Celsia abruptly turned toward Aquila.
She looked even less sane than before.
Her blonde hair, which had once gleamed beautifully in the sunlight, was dull and coarse now, still wildly disheveled from frantic movement and the wind.
And perhaps she had discarded them in her haste to flee here, but she was barefoot, without even shoes.
“Yes, well. I wandered around a bit. Someone ran off without any discussion, after all.”
Aquila withdrew his attention from the twins and turned his gaze to her—more precisely, to the object in Celsia’s hand.
Black Swamp sludge.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no mistaking it.
There was nothing else that could ooze with such a thick, ominous color, writhing as if alive.
Aquila pointed at the bottle in Celsia’s hand.
“Do you know what’s that you’re holding?”
“…Hah! What a truly foolish question. Of course I know.”
Celsia drew the glass bottle closer to herself as if cherishing it, then stroked it gently.
“This is a gift. Something that was granted to me….”
A soft flush spread across her face.
But in the next instant, her expression twisted savagely as she whipped around toward the twins.
“Even so, out of affection, I wished to share this final glory with you. And you dare refuse that chance?”
Her cold voice poured out in accusation.
Faced with her razor-sharp demeanor, the twins recoiled.
‘I have rarely seen a sane follower of the Night God, but this is the first time I have heard someone call that a gift.’
Aquila’s gaze fell to the sludge inside the bottle, still writhing even now.
Tilting his head slightly, he quietly asked Shen beside him.
“Shen. Is it just my eyes, or does that look… ominous? It is wriggling like a black octopus you would haul up from the southern sea. Am I imagining things?”
“No, young master. It looks the same to me. There is a kind of visceral revulsion…. What is that thing, exactly? And how do you know about black octopus?”
“I read about it in a book. They say it is pitch-black.”
Aquila and Shen whispered quietly.
He had wondered, but it seemed his eyes were not deceiving him after all.
But whether it was their opinion or the children’s, there was little difference, as the boy raised his voice.
“B-but… I do not understand how that could be a gift, Mother….”
“Tsk tsk, Reshan! Do you truly not know its true value? Such a beautiful form, such vigorous pulsation. Can you look at it and still claim not to know?”
“To, to my eyes….”
Reshan swallowed hard.
“It f-feels repulsive. As if it should never be touched, so ominous….”
Fear took hold in the boy’s eyes, and Reshan unconsciously took another step back.
‘It seems the twins have not been tainted yet.’
However, it was precisely that reaction that made Aquila realize something.
Reshan’s response was entirely normal.
In the previous iteration, Aquila had seen many times how people reacted when Black Swamp sludge was placed before them.
Eight out of ten felt revulsion and fear.
They instinctively sensed that the moment they were devoured by corrupted divinity, their souls would perish.
But there were those who did not.
‘Those whose minds are already broken… or whose souls are damaged. They either show no reaction at all, or resonate with it.’
Aquila’s gaze fixed on Celsia’s face.
She was glaring at Reshan with clear displeasure.
“S-so, I was startled because you were about to pour it on May….”
Under Celsia’s gaze, Reshan hurriedly added excuses.
It seemed the earlier scream had come from May, who had nearly been splashed with the sludge.
But Celsia only grew more irritable, scolding the twins as if reproaching them.
“No, that is wrong! I intended to share it. And yet, of all people, you two react this way? You followed me all the way here, so I thought you had come to join me.”
“We, we only came because the estate was in an uproar and we wanted to inform you, Mother….”
“Hah! So it was all this mother’s misunderstanding, is that what you are saying? Hmm? I have told you so many things, and yet you truly know nothing?”
Celsia’s face softened once more.
She looked at the children with apparent affection, then shook her head and clicked her tongue.
The twins’ faces turned even paler than before.
“How disappointing. Utterly disappointing. After all the care with which I raised you, and yet you are so….”
“N-no! Mother! We must have misunderstood!”
“S-sorry….”
“Are you planning to swallow that?”
As the children hurried to apologize, Aquila spoke up first, abruptly cutting in.
“I would not recommend it, but do you truly know what will happen?”
His brow had already furrowed, and he gestured toward the bottle with his chin.
Celsia turned her eyes toward him with an irritated expression.
As though Aquila had interrupted her attempt to coax the children with sweet words.
Yet a relaxed smile soon returned to her face.
“You ask questions whose answers are obvious. I will obtain glory. And with it, power befitting that glory.”
“You will obtain it by losing yourself. And even so, you intend to proceed?”
“No matter what you say, this is a sacred ritual.”
Celsia’s red lips curved upward in rapture, as if steeped in delusion.
However, Aquila was not finished speaking.
“Your soul is already in tatters because of the curse, so for you, stepmother, the reaction will be even more immediate. First your head, then your limbs, then your heart. Eventually, your entire body will swell until it becomes something grotesque, beyond recognition.”
“Hah. I do not know what you think you understand, spouting such nonsense. Trying to frighten me with words like that will not work. A sacred death—”
“That is nothing more than a pointless death.”
At Aquila’s firm reply, Celsia’s face twisted violently.
“…You are trying to sow confusion with empty words. No! I will become the cornerstone. This will be a sacrifice for a grand purpose.”
“And yet, you want to kill me so badly—”
Aquila stopped mid-sentence.
He could already predict the reaction that would follow his next question.
After sweeping his eyes over the twins, who were anxiously watching both him and Celsia, he continued.
“Why do you want to kill me?”
“…Why I want to kill you? You ask me that?”
“Yes.”
“How absurd! You never asked when you had the chance before, and now, of all times! Hahaha!”
Celsia burst into laughter as if amused by the strangeness of the question.
“It is simply what must be done. That is why I came. But as time passed, I grew weary of it. I grew to loathe you! That bloodline, that hair, that blessing! The fact that I had to wait years for it, that alone, that alone….”
Celsia’s expression slowly drained away.
She looked at Aquila as if he were an inanimate object.
“And so, I cannot allow it to drag on any longer. Even if it strays slightly from its destined course, it is not something that cannot be corrected. Yes. It must be done. By offering up this one body, I will fulfill the long-cherished wish….”
The intense light in her eyes abruptly dimmed, dark shadows swirling within them.
Her shoulders trembled.
“Yes. Now is the time to resolve Ludovika’s long-cherished wish.”
The moment Celsia finished speaking, a system notification window appeared.
DING!
[You have obtained the keyword ‘Ludovika’s Long-cherished Wish’!]
[Character information for ‘Celsia Reschenhardt’ has been updated!]
[Celsia Reschenhardt — Daughter of Ludovika, fervent follower of the Night God, sacrifice of Ludovika.
Actions prior to the 30th iteration: The one who cast the ‘Curse of Deadly Poison’ on Aquila Reschenhardt… (More)
Special Notes: Dispatched by Ludovika, a family devoted to the Night God, to eliminate the most dangerous existence. Willingly staked her life for this purpose, and on the day she fulfilled her wish, she was executed with a smile.]
‘…What is this?’
Aquila fell silent as he stared at the window that had appeared.
In every iteration so far, Aquila Reschenhardt had died after being afflicted by the Curse of Deadly Poison.
He had vaguely suspected that it was not merely due to Celsia’s hatred, but the information that had just appeared made it clear.
His eyes grew cold.
‘A revelation. Does that mean Aquila Reschenhardt’s death is included in a revelation?’
A word he had heard whenever he pursued followers of a corrupted god.
Revelation.
If that was the case, then the reactions of the dark god’s followers made sense.
A ‘revelation’ ordained as destiny had to be realized, no matter what.
But another question arose alongside it.
‘Does the revelation mean that Aquila Reschenhardt is the most dangerous existence?’
However, before his thoughts could go any further, disaster struck.
“T-this… Mother!”
While Aquila was distracted by the system window, Celsia opened the bottle.
Without the slightest hesitation, she poured the Black Swamp sludge into her mouth.
GULP GULP!
The sludge was sucked into her mouth like a living organism.
“…Tsk!”
Aquila clicked his tongue.
From the moment she was holding the bottle, it had been impossible to stop her.
In any case, this had to be the first major quest.
CRASH!
As Celsia dropped the bottle and it shattered into pieces, Aquila shouted.
“Shen! And you—twins over there! If you do not want to die, run. Get out of here! Now!”